Dialogues with Shrimp Farmers

World Wildlife Fund • Jose Villalon • Jason Clay

In 1999, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) formed a consortium with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Bank and the Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Pacific to look at the environmental impacts of shrimp farming.  The consortium recommended that WWF engage shrimp farmers and industry stakeholders in a dialogue that would lead to the reduction of the major environmental and social impacts from shrimp farming.

In 2006—after the completion of more than 140 meetings with more than 8,000 people and the publication of 40 case studies by 120 researchers—the FAO’s Committee on Fisheries adopted the consortium’s “International Principles for Responsible Shrimp Farming”.  Those principles are now being used to develop measurable standards for shrimp farming.

Shrimp Farming Dialogues

Through open, consensus-forming dialogues with aquaculture stakeholders around the world, WWF is developing credible, transparent, voluntary standards for minimizing or eliminating the environmental and social impacts from fish and shrimp farms.  The dialogues with shrimp farmers will begin appearing on WWF’s webpage very soon!  To see what WWF has posted so far, try these pages:

Aquaculture Dialogues Overview

Progress with the Aquaculture Dialogues

Aquaculture Dialogues/Shrimp

On September 13, 2007, I interviewed Jason Clay Vice President of Markets at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and Jose Villalon , a 26-year veteran of the aquaculture industry and the new director of WWF’s aquaculture program.  Villalon’s primary role is to develop the aquaculture dialogues with stakeholder groups (farmers, processors, importers and retailers) and from those dialogues develop standards for sustainable aquaculture production.

Shrimp News: Jose, what is your official title?

Jose Villalon: Director of Aquaculture, working under the Markets program at the World Wildlife Fund.  Jason Clay is the Vice President of Markets, so I’ll be working directly under him to develop the aquaculture dialogues and standards.

Shrimp News: Jason, your title, Vice President of Markets, always brings a smile to my face because it’s just not the kind of title that you would expect from an environmental organization.  Tell me about that title.

Jason Clay: The aquaculture standards will apply to fish and shrimp farmers.  My job is to bring the “marketing” chain—processors, exporters, importers, distributors, restaurants and retailers—into the program.  We want them to participate in the development of the standards and we want their support in implementing the standards.  They have much to gain from adhering to high seafood standards.

Shrimp News: How far along are you with the shrimp standards and when can the shrimp industry expect to get a peek at them?

Jason Clay: Starting with standards that Dr. Claude Boyd, a water quality expert at Auburn University (Alabama, USA), and I put together, the stakeholder group in Madagascar has already developed draft standards for shrimp farming.  We are also developing a relationship around sustainability with the largest shrimp producer in Madagascar, called UNIMA.  We’re working with them on shrimp farming and shrimp fishing.

In Belize, we’re planning on hosting a meeting on the standards and might expand that meeting to include shrimp farmers from elsewhere in Latin America, so that we could have an open discussion on regional standards.  Standards for Latin America will be similar to those being developed in Madagascar and Belize.

Jose Villalon: Eric Bernard, our program manager for shrimp standards development, is going to Belize in October to discuss the possibility of opening the meeting, which will focus on Mexico and Central America, to the shrimp farming industry in Latin America.  It will be a great opportunity for farmers to find out about the dialogue process, the draft standards and what we’ve accomplished so far.

During the first quarter of 2008, we’re going to introduce our dialogues to shrimp farmers in Asia with a meeting in Vietnam.  Over the next six months, the shrimp work is going to move forward very aggressively.

Jason Clay: We’re very interested in learning how to work with groups of small shrimp farms, which is more of an issue in Asia than in Latin America or Madagascar.  We’ve also raised some money to look at how processing plants might help support a sustainable industry and improve performance across the board.

We’re not developing standards for the processing plants, but we want to work with the distribution chain during the implementation of the standards.  Processing plants often get involved with the distribution of seedstock and feed and they buy shrimp from many farms, so we want their help in supporting the standards.

Jose Villalon: The small producer in Asia has a problem with the cost of certification.  How do you include them?  We’re hoping the processing plants will help us integrate groups of small-scale farmers into the program.  The processing plants could help the small-scale farmers understand and implement the standards.  They could use their infrastructure to monitor the standards for a group of small farmers, and everyone involved would probably make more money.

Shrimp News: Can you give me some kind of time line when the draft standards for shrimp will be available?

Jason Clay: I think by the end of 2008, we’ll have vetted draft standards for specific places, like Central America, Belize, Madagascar, and probably Thailand.  And we will be working on how to turn them into global standards.  Within six months, we’ll have a pretty good idea of how the program is going to unfold.

Jose Villalon: The open, multi-stakeholder, consensus-building dialog process requires a lot of time, but by the end of 2008, we should be field-testing some of the standards and taking public comment.

We’re trying to get as much involvement as possible from farmers, processors, importers and distributors.  It’s a great opportunity for shrimp farmers to help mold the standards that will regulate the industry.  We will have draft standards for shrimp out there for testing before the end of 2008.  Shrimp is one of our priority species right now.

As you know, I spent the last 12 years in Mexico as a shrimp farming consultant.  I sounded out farmer interest in the standards before coming up here to Washington, DC, and I was really impressed with their response.  Everyone was interested in getting on board for the dialogue process with shrimp.

Jason Clay: Jose will be managing the aquaculture dialogues.  My role in all of this is to bring the retailers, brands and buyers into the process so that they will encourage the people they buy from to support the standards.

Information: Jose Villalon, World Wildlife Fund, 1250 24th Street, NW, Washington DC 20037-1193 (phone 202-778-9625, email jose.villalon@wwfus.org, webpage http://www.wwf.org).

Sources: 1. Jason Clay and Jose Villalon, telephone interview by Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International.  September 13, 2007.  2. World Wildlife Fund Webpage.  Aquaculture Dialogues Overview.  September 16, 2007.  3. Jill Schwartz, Senior Communications Officer, Aquaculture, World Wildlife Fund (phone 202-822-3458, email jill.schwartz@wwfus.org).  Emails, press releases and attachments in August and September 2007.

Aero-Tube

Ben Williams Introduces New Aeration Products

Colorite Plastics, the world’s leading producer of garden hose and aeration tubing, has hired Ben Williams to head its Aeration Products Division, which is currently introducing several new products to the aquaculture and wastewater industries worldwide.

Prior to his appointment at Colorite, Williams served as sales manager (Americas) at Aqua Bounty Technologies, a biotechnology company that markets immunostimulants to shrimp feed manufacturers.  Previously he held a similar position with Magic Valley Heli-Arc, a manufacturer of fish and shrimp harvesting equipment.  He also spent five years with Zeigler Bros., Inc., a shrimp feed manufacturer, where he worked in sales and product development.  He holds a Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Utah.

Jay Kline, President of Colorite Plastics, said: “Ben joining the Colorite team at this time is great news for Colorite and our worldwide team.  Having recently developed an innovative new product in Aero-Tube™, which we believe will bring about a paradigm shift in aquaculture and wastewater aeration, we needed an experienced manager to head up the project.”

Colorite Plastics, a division of Tekni-Plex, Inc., is the world’s number one manufacturer of garden hose and aeration tubing.  With five manufacturing facilities in the United States, one in Mississauga, Canada, and an affiliate in Suzhou, China, Colorite produces and ships more garden hose and aeration tubing than any other company in the world.

Shrimp News contacted Williams for more information on Aero-Tube™.  He said three shrimp farms in the United States and one in Indonesia were already testing it, adding: “It really is an interesting product for shrimp farmers (and all aquaculture species) because of it’s energy efficiency.  In salt water it is almost four times more efficient than paddlewheels, according to an independent testing organization that is world renowned for doing aeration testing.”

Currently we sell four products.

1. Aero-Tube™ aeration tubing (one inch outside dimension, one-half inch inside dimension).

2. Aero-Tube™ Diffuser Bars (for hatcheries).

3. Aero-Tube™ Diffuser Grids (for ponds).  These are airlifts that have a diffuser grid of tubing below the surface, which is the heart of the system.  We also provide drawings and instructions so that a farmer can build his own airlift.  We are a hose and tubing company, so that’s what we want to sell.  It’s the tubing that accounts for the incredible energy efficiency and oxygen transfer.  The airlift can be created from the carcasses of broken down paddlewheels with little additional material.  As you know, every shrimp farm in the world has a paddlewheel graveyard.  We want to utilize that essentially free resource to help shrimp farmers cut costs.

4. Aero-Tube™ systems.  We provide complete Aero-Tube™ systems for farms and hatcheries.

Information: Aeration Tubing Products (http://www.coloriteaerationtubing.com); Aeration in Aquaculture (http://www.coloriteaerationtubing.com/aquacult_pages/aerationinaquaculture.htm).

Information: Ben Williams, Business Development Manager, Aeration Products, Colorite Division, Tekni-Plex, Incorporated, 5804 Van Winkle Lane, Austin, TX 78739 USA (phone 512-494-5155, email ben.williams@tekni-plex.com, webpage www.coloriteaerationtubing.com).

Sources: 1. Colorite Plastics.  News Release.  Colorite Plastics Names Ben Williams as Product Development Manager–Aeration Products.  September 19, 2007.  2. Colorlite Plastics’ Webpage on September 30, 2007.  3. Emails to Shrimp News International from Ben Williams in September 2007.

Country Reports

Australia

Shrimp Turn Redder in a Black Bucket

Shrimp turn a deeper shade of red if you dunk them in a black bucket of water for a few hours, say Australian scientists.  They say the shrimp are trying to blend into the dark background, and change their pigmentation to match it.  As the public tends to favor darker shrimp, this simple step could increase the market value of farmed shrimp.

The researchers, while working on the texture, flavor and size of farmed shrimp, happened to leave some shrimp in a black bucket while they were changing the tank water.  About 3 hours later they noticed the prawns had turned dark red, a feature that attracts a market premium.

Shrimp color depends on the distribution of pigments called astaxanthins in the outer body layer and shell.  Shrimp farmers include astaxanthins in feed to increase the darkness of their harvests, but now they can now get darker shrimp and spend less on astaxanthins.  All they need to do is place their shrimp in a black tank before processing them.

Source: ABC Science Online.  Prawns turn red in black buckets (http://www.abc.net.au/cgi-bin/common/printfriendly.pl?/science/news/stories/2007/2040062.htm).   Anna Salleh.  September 24, 2007.

Australia

New Rules on Imports

Biosecurity Australia, the government agency that is considering new regulations that could stop the import of raw shrimp into Australia, has two pages on its website that provide access to all the documents that have been submitted and issued on the proposed regulations.  To view and download the documents go to http://www.daff.gov.au/ba/ira/current-animal/prawns/prawn_submissions and http://www.daff.gov.au/ba/ira/current-animal/prawns.

Source: Biosecurity Australia Webpage (http://www.daff.gov.au/ba) on September 25, 2007.

Bangladesh

Freshwater Prawn Farming in Satkhira

In Satkhira (southwestern Bangladesh), Ashrafuzzaman Moina is back at his farm, producing environmentally friendly freshwater prawns, locally known as “golda”.  Like many others, Ashrafuzzaman started out as a shrimp farmer, but he abandoned shrimp after viral diseases caused losses over several years.  Now he farms prawns in two half-hectare ponds.  In 2006, he released 35,000 postlarvae in the ponds and produced 502 kilograms of prawns, which sold for $5,000 and earned a profit of $2,700.

Freshwater prawn farming is expanding in Satkhira.  In 2007, prawns are being cultivated in 6,411 enclosures, ponds and water bodies covering 5,805 hectares.  Production is 408 kilograms per hectare, compared to 265 kilograms per hectare for shrimp.  Around 7,000 farmers now cultivate prawns.  Prawns garner higher prices than shrimp.

Source: The Daily Star.  Sweet water prawn brings farmers back to business (http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=5198).  Our correspondent in Satkhira.  September 24, 2007.

Canada

Wanted—Postlarvae

I need some SPF postlarvae (Penaeus vannamei) for a pilot project in Canada.

Information: tremblar@telus.net

Source: AquaNic (The Aquaculture Network Information Center, a gateway to the world’s electronic aquaculture resources, http://aquanic.org/index.htm).  Shrimp Discussion Group (http://www.aquanic.org/discuss/shrimp.htm).  Shrimp/Looking for SPF vannamei pl’s for Canadian pilot (http://www.aquanic.org/discuss/_shrimp/0000119b.htm).  From: ASF.  September 9, 2007.

China

USA Lifts Dumping Tariffs on One Company

The Associated Press reports:

The Food and Drug Administration has allowed Zhangian Guolian Aquatic Products, Inc., Ltd., a major Chinese producer of farmed shrimp, to resume shipments to the United States, making it the first shrimp exporter to be exempted from the June 2007 restrictions put in place over drug contamination worries.

FDA officials inspected Zhangian Guolian’s processing plant and received third-party analyses of five consecutive shipments of shrimp that showed they were free of antibiotic residues.  The Chinese government also certified that Zhangian Guolian complies with Chinese regulations and intends to use the company as a model.  The FDA expects other companies to seek similar exemptions.

Source: Herald Tribune.  U.S. exempts first Chinese farmed seafood producer from import restrictions (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/19/business/NA-FIN-US-China-Tainted-Products.php).  September 19, 2007.

Ecuador

Statistics, Comeback

In 2006, nearly 200 hatcheries and more than 150,000 hectares of shrimp ponds were in operation, and more than 250,000 people were employed by the country’s farmed-shrimp industry.  The price of shrimp isn’t like it was in the late 1990s, but production is as good as ever.  “We are reducing the wild fishmeal percentage and using less and less every day,” says Santiago Salem, founder of Industria Pesquera Santa Priscila, S.A., in Guayaquil.  “We are using low-density ponds and we aren’t depending on the feed.  We push natural feed.  ...We use 100 percent organic feed and no antibiotics.  We don’t need antibiotics or chemicals the way we produce”.

In 2006, Ecuadorian shrimp exports of 264.3 million pounds (50% to the USA) brought revenues of $597 million into the country.  Comparatively, in 2005, the country earned $480.2 million for 212.5 million pounds.  For 2007, exports to the USA are on schedule to match those of 2006, with 70 million pounds of shrimp being shipped to the USA market from January to June 2007.  According to Ecuador’s Cámara Nacional de Pesquera (National Chamber of Fisheries), shrimp exports to the USA set an all-time monthly high of 25 million pounds in May 2007.

Sources: 1. SeaFood Business (www.seafoodbusiness.com).  Editor, Fiona Robinson (frobinson@divcom.com).  Country’s fisheries sector makes a comeback with shrimp, tilapia.  Nicholas Gill.  V-26, N-9, P-32, September 2007.

Ecuador

Wanted—Used Liners and Aerators

I’m looking for used liners and aerators.

Information: Anthony Lyndaker, TrabioSA (USA phone 614-560-4530, email bilbosa@hotmail.com).

Source: Email to Shrimp News International from Anthony Lyndaker on October 1, 2007.

India

Andhra Pradesh

Shrimp hatcheries in Andhra Pradesh, the east coast state that produces most of India’s farmed shrimp, are reeling under severe losses because of the strengthening rupee, which makes Indian shrimp more expensive in international markets, and the small demand for seedstock.

According to hatchery owners, if the situation continues, many hatcheries will not open their doors when the next season begins in December 2008.  They said around 50 percent of the hatchery owners had already stopped producing postlarvae.  Andhra Pradesh has about 240 shrimp hatcheries with a production capacity of about 16 billion postlarvae a year.  During the last season (May to July 2007), the hatcheries produced just four to five billion postlarvae because of shrinking demand.  Hatcheries currently sell postlarvae for less than it costs them to produce it.  Many shrimp farmers have switched to fish culture.

Source: CommodityOnline.com.  Andhra shrimp farmers in troubled waters (http://www.commodityonline.com/news/topstory/newsdetails.php?id=2840).  September 24, 2007.

Iran

Don’t Believe Everything You Read

On September 23, 2007, an Iranian official said farmed shrimp export revenues would equal oil export revenues in the next three to four years.  He said farmed shrimp would bring in $3 billion.

Source: MEHRNEWS.com.  Iran’s shrimp, petrochemical export revenues to be equal (http://www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=557377).  NK/KK.  September 23, 2007.

Malaysia

Job—Post Doc in Penaeid Immunology and Virology

The Global Satria Group Company (http://www.globalsatria.com.my) has a position open for a Post Doc in Penaeid Immunology and Virology.

Salary: $1,500 to $1,700 a month.

Closing Date: October 23, 2007.

Qualifications: Ph.D. from a recognized university specializing in penaeid immunology and/or virology, plus knowledge of gene silencing and antiviral compounds.  Applicants should send PDF copies of their doctoral thesis, along with some of their peer-reviewed publications, to the email address below.  Attach a recent picture to the top right hand corner of your CV.

Description: This is a two-year tenured position at a Malaysian university that is in active collaboration with the Global Satria Group of companies.  The job is basically to lead a small but dedicated research team at the university and to liaise with the research group at the company’s lab in Tawau.

Information: Ung Eng Huan (phone 6-019-8615377, email huanung@yahoo.com).

Source: AquaNic (The Aquaculture Network Information Center, a gateway to the world’s electronic aquaculture resources, http://aquanic.org/index.htm).  Jobs Directory (http://www.aquanic.org/Text/job_serv.htm) In cooperation with the WAS Employment Service.  Search jobs (http://aquanic.org/jobs/search.asp).  Postdoc Shrimp Immunology, Virology (http://aquanic.org/jobs/jobinfo.asp?jobid=2583).  September 25, 2007.

Mexico

SyAqua Sells Shrimp Farm

Animal genetics company Genus PLC has sold its SyAqua Mexico shrimp business for $2.6 million in cash.  Genus said SyAqua Mexico generated revenues of $4.9 million for the year ending June 2007 and a profit of $1 million with net assets of $1.6 million.  All three SyAqua shrimp businesses (Brazil, Thailand and Mexico) have now been sold.

Laboratorios Marinos, S.A de C.V., a consortium of small hatcheries and farms in the Culiacan area, purchased SyAqua Mexico.

Sources: 1. Hemscott.  Genus sells SyAqua Mexico for 1.3 mln stg cash (http://www.hemscott.com/news/latest-news/item.do?newsId=51178830356235).  October 4, 2007.  2. Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International, October 5, 2005.

United States

Florida—Job for Shrimp Hatchery Field Biologist

A shrimp farm in Clewiston, Florida, has a position open for a shrimp hatchery field biologist.

Salary: $70,000 to $80,000.

Closing Date: November 30, 2007.

Qualifications: Must have two years’ experience working with Penaeus vannamei and P. setiferus.  Must be bilingual (English/Spanish).

Description: Responsibilities will include sourcing and staging the development of shrimp as well as the preparation of reports, some personnel supervision, and management of day-to-day hatchery operations.  This is a hands-on operation; it is a farm located in a rural, rugged area with temperatures ranging from 100-110 degrees in the summer.

Information: Jenny Daetwiler (904-421-2730, email jdaetwiler@oasisadvantage.com).

Source: AquaNic (The Aquaculture Network Information Center, a gateway to the world’s electronic aquaculture resources, http://aquanic.org/index.htm).  Jobs Directory (http://www.aquanic.org/Text/job_serv.htm)/In cooperation with the WAS Employment Service.  Search jobs (http://aquanic.org/jobs/search.asp).  Shrimp Hatchery Field Biologist (http://aquanic.org/jobs/jobinfo.asp?jobid=2578).  Posted September 21, 2007.

United States

Virginia—Blue Ridge Aquaculture

Bill Martin, president of Blue Ridge Aquaculture, wants to do something about the balance of trade by raising more seafood in this country.  He also wants to help address consumer concerns, spurred by recent headlines, that some seafood from foreign sources could be unsafe to eat.

Martin has partnered with MariCal, Inc., of Portland, Maine, to build a $3 million, 30,000-square-foot facility to test indoor shrimp farming.

MariCal, an aquatic biotechnology company, has patented methods to raise saltwater species in low-salinity environments.  The technology alters the natural salinity sensor in fish to trick them into thinking they are in saltwater.

“We have intellectual property that allows us to raise saltwater species in fresh water...,” said Martin, who wants to raise shrimp 225 miles from the nearest ocean.

The success of the shrimp trial will depend on whether Martin’s staff can achieve the half-pound of shrimp to one gallon of water that Martin wants, said Todd Blacher, the operation’s shrimp-farming expert.  “To make this profitable, we need to get to a density that no one has achieved before,” said Blacher, a Californian who has worked on shrimp farms in South America and China.

Blue Ridge employs 40 people in Martinsville and 7 in Saltville, but Martin envisions a business employing 1,500 people.  He’s looking for 400 or 500 acres around Martinsville where he could greatly expand his tilapia operation as well as the cobia and shrimp operations, eventually.

Information: Steve Morrell, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, MariCal, 400 Commercial Street, Portland, Maine 04101 USA (phone 207-773-2500, fax 207-773-2522, email info@marical.biz, webpage http://www.marical.biz).

Information: Bill Martin, Blue Ridge Aquaculture, P.O. Drawer 1152, Martinsville, VA 24114 USA (phone 276-632-9440, email blkz3@aol.com, webpage http://www.blueridgeaquaculture.com).

Source: Seafood.com (an online, subscription-based, fisheries news service).  Stocking density will be key to Bill Martin’s ambitious bet on indoor shrimp farming in Virginia.  Ken Coons (phone 781-861-1441, email kencoons@seafood.com).  Editor and Publisher, John Sackton (phone 781-861-1441, email jsackton@seafood.com).  September 24, 2007.

United States

Washington State—Ken Talley’s Shrimp Market Analysis

Shrimp imports are falling and so are prices.  Through July, importers brought in a total of 616 million pounds of shrimp, down a fairly significant 9.8% compared to the same period in 2006, though it is still a hefty 11.8% increase over 2005.

While the number one and two suppliers of shrimp in 2006 (Thailand and China) continue to show gains in cumulative shipments, monthly shipments from both suppliers show significant declines.  Thailand, for example, saw July shipments drop 18.3% to 30.2 million pounds.  China, on the other hand, saw export volume plummet 42.8%, to 5.3 million pounds.  China has fallen to the number four position as a supplier of shrimp to the USA.

Source: Seafood Trend Newsletter (independent coverage of the seafood market since 1984, 8227 Ashworth Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98103-4434 USA (phone 206-523-2280, fax 206-526-8719, email seafoodtrend@aol.com).  Editor, Ken Talley.  September 24, 2007.